A plane full of fans: Dallas blog -- The end.

[Art]

Ok, so, getting things set up and running with the Murf. Updates after food .

Friday, 8:20 p.m. -- Finish a nice night out with the wife as the in-laws are having the big girl overnight for a Dora party. I try to get her to give daddy big kisses cause she won't see me, but, she likes to tease. Holding her hands over her mouth to keep any free kisses from happening, she says, "Cry daddy. Cry." And I fake cry about wanting a kiss and she laughs, and laughs, and makes me do it again, before, "Ok, I give you kiss now daddy." Still makes my night. Littlest one just as sweet as ever. Dump her in bed as soon as we get home.

Saturday, 8 a.m. -- Call the hotel to confirm reservations. Seems I was bumped to the overflow. Big weekend. Lots of hangers on, most likely to follow on to California tonight for the Hollywood party.

Saturday, 11:35 a.m. -- On the plane in first class. This Silver Elite thing rocks. Fans from both teams are streaming in. At least 20 Cowboy fans and 15 or so Redskin fans. Apparently this is the connection for their flight from D.C. One extremely large Cowboy fan recognizes my Redskins T-Shirt and says, "Nice high school shirt you got on," as he starts laughing. I respond immediately with, "Hey, I'm glad you noticed. Most Cowboy fans don't make it to high school." Even the Cowboy fans laughed at that one. I hate these obnoxious fools.

Saturday, 2:00 p.m. -- On the ground, barely. Dan, our pilot, landed his first aircraft today. And he did so with an uncomfortable bounce. But, I move in baggage claim. Cowboy fans and Redskin fans giving each other a little of the business. My high school retort keeps me safe from direct shots, but the side action is pretty brutal. One Cowboy fan keeps using his Nextel to fake like he's talking to Redskin fans back home to tell them various of our players didn't make the trip for fearing various Cowboy players. I have heard enough and say, "****, look at that," pointing to a television, "three more Cowboys arrested for drug possession." Standby always useful in such circumstances.

Saturday, 2:15 p.m. -- In the rental car facility. Apparently some guy booked 25 full-sized cars for his family and friends. The counter has a Redskin helmet on the Welcome message for this guy. I comment on it, and the manager of the Dollar says, "Oh, I don't know if he's a Redskin fan, I just hate Cowboy fans." I said, "Preach it sister." Several Cowboy fans looking at us without amusement as we lay it on that Cowboy fans are loud, obnoxious, jerks, while actually serving this critical role ourselves.

Saturday, 3:15 p.m. -- Hit the overflow hotel. Nice place actually. Dress and go down to the gym.

Saturday, 4:45 p.m. -- Upstairs, check the phone, no Murf. I chill out watching various movies, including the terrible Scorpian King, but, I do like the Rock and kudos to Kelly Hu who I'd never seen before.

Saturday, 6:00 p.m. -- Murf walks in with army buddy and his wife. Tell him the plans are to hit the road and hang out with Larry and whoever. I head into the shower. Phone rings, but I leave it so I can make myself pretty. Not all that hard considering the head start and all .

Saturday, 6:30 p.m. -- Dressed up. Larry had called. I call back and tell him we'll meet him at the team hotel shortly. As we're heading out, we see some other guys bumped from the main hotel including Bram. Find out later he and the guy he was with weren't told and as they were checking in they found out they weren't there. Boom mic guys from the radio are here too.

Saturday, 6:45 p.m. -- At the team hotel. Players are out in force. Rock wandering. Keenan at the front desk. Khary Campbell chilling out in the front area. I head in to the sports bar I enjoyed two years earlier and wait. Larry shows up in a few. And so does hailredskins ***** wearing this weird Western poker outfit.

Saturday, 7:15 p.m. -- Drinking drastically overpriced drinks in the sports bar area and playing impossible shuffle board with the salted board that never stops the puck where you want before breaking up into groups for a nice night out. We pick The Keg, as it seemed to be well named. Couple of the other guys go out with a sponsor.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. -- At The Keg. Slight wait for us. Name, sir? I answer, "Redskins," as she starts writing, "Victory, with a V." We find a small sitting area to chill out while waiting. A couple nearish to us apparently feels we're too loud and moves. Good.

Saturday, 7:45 p.m. -- Taken into the darkly lit dining area. Larry, coming up on 60, has a hard time reading the menu. He actually takes his cell phone out and uses the light from the cell to illuminate the menu . Over dinner Murf chats him up about how he got the job and his past as a fan. He's heard the rumors that he's an old Cowboy fan and that he shot Fran Herzog personally for the job . Pretty funny actually.

Saturday, 9 p.m. -- We head from our table to the bar for some more drinking and watching football. A couple of younger girls are hooting and hollering it up with some older guys. We know what that's about, but, we were glad to watch the show between plays. Oklahoma is going down to Texas Tech on the tube. Down 14 they throw on fourth into the end zone. The receiver comes down with a foot, but then the defender strips the ball. Murf says, "My play-by-play guy says incompletion," referring to Larry. I give line of the night, "Yeah, tell him Frank Herzog would have called that a touchdown."

Saturday, 11 p.m. -- Drop off the crew and go in to check on our credentials. Not there yet. So we head back to the hotel and sleep. Sorry, no dancers. At least not until next week .

Sunday, 9 a.m. -- Rolling up, ever slow. Call from the Redskins.com TV guys about dropping them off at the game. Showering up and heading over to the team hotel for creds. Yeah. They are there. Start a trek that lasts over an hour to find a place to eat. We end up at McDonald's about 25 feet from where we started. Losers.

Sunday, 11 a.m. -- Pick up the crew and load the car and head to Texas Stadium. Exit. There's the stadium. Wait. How do you get there? Turn left here? Yeah? Wait, that's an exit ramp from another highway. Skirting death, we loop. Sweet talk parking staff to let us up near the stadium so the guys can unload their stuff. Then we head to red parking about 4 miles from the stadium. Ok, I'm being bitter, it's not that far.

Sunday, 11:30 a.m. -- Security has to pat me down, sees my shirt and suggests he'll need gloves. I fake to turn around and grab my ankles. He loves that. Head into the bowels of the bowl. This is one disgusting, filthy stadium. It's just so unappealing. We're apparently dramatically lost as we finally get up to an elevator that says press, and we walk through the entire club level and half the stadium to get where we need to.

Sunday, 11:50 a.m. -- Sonny and Larry come in. We're talking a little football. Sonny's talking about Sean Taylor and what he can do. Says Gregg Williams has told him that no other safety in the league can play in coverage like Taylor. Says in a single high to get to the sideline fade route safeties have to be 20-25 yards deep. But, Taylor can be in a single high, 35-yards back and take away both sidelines. Big loss without him. UnWise Mike of the Post stops by. Really he is a nice guy. I told him I saved his strip singing video. He'll have a hard time living that down.

Sunday, 12:30 p.m. -- Find our seats. Cowboy press box is slower than New York, but without the eye candy making it tolerable. We set up for the game before heading into the lunch room.

Sunday, 1 p.m. -- Eating with Sonny, Larry, Ed Werder and some gal from ESPN. Sonny is talking about the replacement players beating Dallas in 1987. I say, "Do you mean we'll need new players to beat Dallas now?" Maybe .

Sunday, 2 p.m. -- At the seat, taking in the atmosphere. Good press box seats. Jason LaCanfora doesn't make my blog much any more because he's tamed it down lately, but, he's talking about some story that he can't work on until after the game. I'm sure it'll be about the ticket story or something trivial, but, someone really needs to tell Jason -- and I guess I am here -- that you can talk into a cell phone at a vocal volume moderately normal. He's a screamer into the cell.

Sunday, 2:45 -- Washington Post Sports Bogger Senior Dan stops by to say hello, telling me he wore green again, so it wasn't just the Jets. Pretty funny. He was out at the Blondie tailgate. I don't go to those cause I'll get myself in trouble but I'll try the post gamer if we have one.

Sunday, 2:55 p.m. -- Redskins come out and do their team dance on the star. Crowd does not like this. I was actually surprised to see it myself. Should be interesting to see if that fires someone up, us or them. They were in the tunnel, but someone will tell them. Oh, and Reid Doughty will be starting.

Sunday 3:14 p.m. -- Almost gametime. Dallas no longer sells ads on the inflatable Cowboy. They used to be the Levitra Cowboys. Classic amusement now, sadly, gone.

Cowboys drive -- Nice push up the middle, but we're bad in coverage underneath. Then a gaping hole for a big run. Not a way to start. Little more stiff on the next two. Doing different things up front and in the secondary. Matching the slot on plays, we don't do that. Landry and Doughty playing games at safety. Overloading the line. Interesting start. More aggressive than anticipated. Kick wide right, but, Cowboy fans right below me are so dumb they start out by doing a Romo sits to pee chant on first down, then cheer the miss, thinking because it went far enough it would be good. I'm going to enjoy these guys all game.

Portis, Portis, Portis -- Hey, Portis gets the ball. Who knew. Nice run. If Portis can go off we can win. Important to keep the chains moving and clock in our favor. Portis looks quick. His legs are back. Cooley in two great matchups. Teams that don't bracket him are dying to be killed. The Cowboys will adjust, but that was a beautiful route and throw. Hell of a way to start. 7-0

Dallas again -- Barber STONED. BEAUTIFUL. That can be a big play. Dallas feeds off Barber's running. He's not used to getting stoned like that. Rocky should have had a pick to follow it up. Damn. Barber would have had 40 in the flat though if Romo sits to pee threw to him. Third blitz. Pressure. DAMN. We have to get off the field on those today. Dallas blows the shotgun. Romo sits to pee humps it up like a moron. THAT'S OUR BALL BABY. Now, put it down their throats. Defense IS doing different things. We're in a lot of different looks. It's confusing the Cowboys a little.

Damn you Moss -- Santana is just wrecking us. It's terrible. He has to catch the ball and just catch the ball. That ball's on him quick, but, Moss is not helping us at all right now. Defense needs to hold tight.

Dallas -- Springs is tracking Owens everywhere. Defense isn't looking great, but you can see the difference in scheme without Taylor. Williams is maximizing what he has right now. It's a good chess match so far. Another big third down. It's here you win football games. Massive overload up front, and Landry backs out. Dangerous man coverage in the slot as Torrence may have been beaten, but quick pass goes our way. This is a scary game. Field position in their favor. Score in ours.

Washington -- Griffin ankle. Probable to return.

Dare to be daring -- Skins down deep. Don't JUST run. Play action, deep. Go for the throat. Scare the Cowboys into thinking we're throwing caution to the wind. I know it's a risk, but that's how you win this game. We score our first, first possession tD of the year. Then we miss backing it up. This drive has to get field position in our favor. Cowboys with 10+ minutes in time of possession. Need to give the D a breather. Sellers makes a play. Steps up and makes a play. We need 20 more of those today. Great concentration by Keenan. Telling you don't see Moss. Not healthy and not productive. ARE makes a play. That's another. You WIN with that effort. You win by turning a negative into a positive. Tremendous. Moss hasn't been back in since the drop. Three receivers are in though. Fourth and 1. GO FOR IT. PLEASE. FAKE. DAMMIT. That's Gibbs taking a chance away. You do NOT let that player make that play. Suisham is fine, but you give it to Portis and tell him to make a yard.

Dallas again -- Barber isn't running through us. That's a positive all the way around. It is demoralizing for them not to feed off his energy. Of course, with them being unable to snap on the shotgun but still try some plays and make them, it feeds back. Third and short. Bet they are in two down territory. Nice quick play for a first. London has a chance to put the game in our favor big, but just can't grab it. A monster third down. Great pressure. Big hit. Perfect pass. That's them making the type of plays necessary to win. Perfect pass again to Owens. Hard to defend those.

Two minute drill -- Shovel pass is genius or disaster. Didn't work. Ware gets off quick on third, but Jason has time and makes a play. The team's making more plays offensively the last couple of weeks. Clutch play to give us a field goal chance. Team's making plays they typically don't make. That's a real positive. Suisham hits that like a pro. Drilled. Our lead 10-7.

Halftime Review -- Great, entertaining, interesting game between two rivals. Both teams are making plays, continuing drives, showing great hustle. If we were consistently good and this game is a precursor for a playoff game, this is that type of game. Neither team has a clear edge. Both are making plays that define how good teams become good. Gibbs should have put this game in the hands of his running back on the missed field goal, but, otherwise, as fun a first half as you could have expected. The Cowboys tend to wear teams down with their relentless offensive attack. But, here, we're taking some of that energy from them. We're not stopping them and they aren't us, so, on balance you feel like someone's going to make a key mistake that will tip the game in favor of the opposition. For the first time in weeks, you feel we're not more likely to be that team in the first half. Dallas is living far closer to the edge of oblivion than we are and that's good. We're touching more passes. They can't snap. It will put pressure on them if we do something offensively to start the second half.

Gregg Williams is doing everything he can to keep his undermanned crew in this game, but, the key to that is Springs stepping up and stopping Owens, which isn't happening now. That has to happen or we will not be able to do as much in the second half.

Our ball -- Moss makes an actual grab. He's dangerous when he gets the ball. Quick plays to him are big plays. We need him confident. Newman following him. ARE and Cooley open on the Campbell missed throw to Cooley. Moss again. Moss can win this game. He can become Moss again. No one on the Cowboys can cover his quickness. But, they jump us on the snap and make a big play. Game changing because they have no answer for what we're doing on offense right now. Heyer is in as well.

Dallas -- THREE AND OUT. Huge series. That fade route is a Cowboy staple. It's almost impossible to stop, it really is. That's all you can ask for. They made a play. We made a stop. You have to get some distance to see how they play under real pressure.

Our ball -- They are jumping our snap count. Bad sign. They are figuring it out. We have to delay the snap. Moss makes another play. He's starting to get a feel again. They can't guard him. If he catches it, he won't be stopped today. You can see how they are playing they are scared to death of him. His confidence is growing. He's running hard into the game now. He's feeling better about his game and himself. Of course, he was too peppy cause they doubled him on the bomb attempt. Solid offensive series to change field position.

Dallas at the 10 -- Daniels with the tip. One of the best in football at that. Very valuable for us at that. Another big third. Dallas has been good on third down. Nice coverage on that play but too much ground to cover and time for Romo sits to pee on the roll. ROCKY. The word is out on him in the league that he can't cover. He can be picked on. He's stepping up HUGE today. Now there's a challenge. It's a close call. That's a big reversal. Doughty just beaten too badly. Total change of the game and feel of the game. The defense keeps fighting. But, they are getting spread and hit deep. This is where Taylor is needed. Huge change. Their crowd will be hot now. It's a character check for us right now. 14-10 bad guys.

Moss, Moss baby -- Beautiful one-handed grab. That's the Moss we remember when healthy. Uncoverable. Sure-hands. Dominating. Huge third down to the sure-handed Keenan. Easy pitch and catch. Dallas on their heels. We're a PASSING team today. That's how you beat Dallas. They can't cover anyone. But, the running game should open up now. Bad grounding on Campbell. Points were big. A TD would have been bigger. 14-13, bad guys. The Cowboys put teams away now. Biggest series of the season for the defense right now.

Cowboys ball -- Where we want them, but we simply can't stop them on third today. That's 8 of 11. Then a perfect pass to Witten that is impossible to stop. We're reeling. The Cowboys have us. Someone needs to make a play on this end. They took Rocky's from us. Now they just have us whatever they want. We were better off simply covering Owens with Springs and forgetting about it. They are picking the zone apart without Taylor back there. Defense is going to have to go man across. 21-13 them.

Our response -- Do we fold? No. Not yet. Keenan gets down the field. We're forgetting the run -- maybe a mistake actually -- but we're moving. Aggressive play calling, but, no. Can't finish it. One score. Defense has to adjust. Now. They have to go change the way Romo sits to pee feels in the pocket or it's over. Our field goals don't match their touchdowns. 21-16 them.

T.O. today -- We've gone straight zone and we clearly can't cover them in it. We have shelled it off and can't, so, STOP the effing shell. I just don't get it. Game's likely over at this point, but there's time. It doesn't matter how much time if you refuse to adjust to them now. Owens isn't doing anything interesting. He's just running straight and we're not covering him. It's just troubling. 28-16 them.

Long, slow drive -- Quick passes. Efficient for the most part. Good response only if we score and now it's third down. Now it's fourth. We move the ball but do struggle to score. Clutch fourth. Going to have to score now quickly. Beautiful, efficient drive. Three time outs. Defense has to make an EFFING stop. ONE EFFING STOP. 28-23, them.

Defense. Defense -- Springs back on Owens in man. You have the game in your hands NOW. Do something with it. WOW. YES. AMAZING. NOW DREAM.

Campbell's time -- Everything you want. Field position AND TIME. Win the game or lose it. It's YOURS, either way. First down play, Moss had a TD down the middle. We don't throw it. UNCOVERED. On the second play, no one was doing anything. Like a spike play, but at least it's only second down. Now first down. Now they are on their heels. We haven't run in a decade. This is a first for us. 21 straight passes at this point. Run a draw. It'd work now. Has him.....NO...Damn. Third down now. And, they step in and do it again. Damn. Needed another step or two. Tough way to fall in that.

Cowboy drive -- Two time outs spent. We get the ball back. Another miracle? We'll have JUST enough time to be interesting.

End game comments.

A couple of weeks ago we beat the Jets and I thought we played a way a team could never win playing. Against the Eagles and now Cowboys we've played and lost and I felt we could win this way. Maybe we can't. The offense and defense are never in full sync together for us. The defense plays well for a half, but the offense doesn't take full advantage. The offense takes advantage for a half but the defense can't make a stop. You see the pieces that allow us to be interesting and you see the negatives that keep us from winning. It's anyone's guess as to what the missing element is. The offense was clearly more wide open than it's been. Not enough. The defense did a good cover job for a half. Not enough. The team needs something to bring them together. In the end, maybe that's being 5-6 and knowing from two years ago they can overcome it. At this point though we're just riding this wave of mediocre play capable of little more than water treading. It's going to be a struggle to keep afloat if we don't put things together and find the thing we're missing.

[argentina_redskins]

F@#k DALLAS!

GO SKINS BABY!

[Blackest Eyes]

F@#k DALLAS!

GO SKINS BABY!

Couldnt have said it better myself!

[RedskinsSuperBowl21]

How does it feel to be in the armpit of the USA?

[Art]

How does it feel to be in the armpit of the USA?

It is a stinky, disgusting place, no doubt.

[skinsjunkie2]

Saturday, 2:15 p.m. -- In the rental car facility. Apparently some guy booked 25 full-sized cars for his family and friends. The counter has a Redskin helmet on the Welcome message for this guy. I comment on it, and the manager of the Dollar says, "Oh, I don't know if he's a Redskin fan, I just hate Cowboy fans." I said, "Preach it sister."

:laugh: :applause: :applause:

My favorite part of your entire post!!!!! That was classic! :dallasuck :dallasuck :dallasuck :dallasuck :dallasuck :dallasuck

[DallasBlowsBig]

lol @ Art, that's kind of funny you do a diary, you the man lol

[Art]

lol @ Art, that's kind of funny you do a diary, you make it seem like your as important as a Redskins player diary would be

I'm not sure even you fully understand what you meant, so I may not be able to either. The blog is simply a representation of a fan's trip and as many who read it state, it's not a ton different than a situation they might find themselves making the same trips.

[Skinsinparadise]

lol @ Art, that's kind of funny you do a diary, you the man lol

The diary is way cool, love the whole rap about what goes behind the scenes in the hotel, etc.

[Blingon]

What I would give to have lunch with Sonny on game day. Especially a division game.

Love the blog

[rtbasye]

good halftime analysis art! I agree, if we could be this consistent all the time, we'd be a playoff team for sure. You have to wonder if the dallas offense is just waiting to kick into high gear, or if the redskins can start the second half off with a score to set them off balance. The first drive will be telling here for JC and co. HAIL!!

[DieselPwr44]

The team needs something

A defensive line that can generate pressure on a consistent basis would do wonders for this defense and this team.

But let's just keep ignoring this on day one of the draft in April.

[Art]

Defensive line has been the least of our worries this year. But, keep ignoring that.

[DieselPwr44]

Defensive line has been the least of our worries this year. But, keep ignoring that.

Really??

Letting McNabb have all day to throw last week and until late in the fourth quarter today, Romo sits to pee had time to pick this secondary apart.

GW always says that pressure and coverage work hand in hand. This is true. One doesn't work if you don't have the other.

When healthy, our secondary is top notch, yet our Dline still gets no pressure.

You've been ignoring that for 10 years....much like the whole franchise has.

Keep up the good fight. Tow that company line.

[MontanaRed]

I love your blog. Thanks for posting what goes on behind the scenes. It's nice getting a sense of the personalities of some of the people from tv/radio.

Plus I just like hearing the trials & tribulations of traveling to represent the burgundy & gold. Good quips to shut up those nasty fans this week!

[rdsknbill]

Nice blog Art. Entertaining as susal. :laugh:

BTW I was at the Monday night game two years ago and you are correct. That stadium is a DUMP

[themurf]

Frank Herzog's blog is better.

[skins4eva]

Team needs a killer instinct, Art. Gibbs has not been able to provide it because he doesn't have one, sadly.

[Art]

Really??

Letting McNabb have all day to throw last week and until late in the fourth quarter today, Romo sits to pee had time to pick this secondary apart.

GW always says that pressure and coverage work hand in hand. This is true. One doesn't work if you don't have the other.

When healthy, our secondary is top notch, yet our Dline still gets no pressure.

You've been ignoring that for 10 years....much like the whole franchise has.

Keep up the good fight. Tow that company line.

It's less a company line and more vision.

On two of the touchdowns to Owens the last game, the line generated quick pressure and got to Romo sits to pee, but the secondary was so lapse as to make it inconsequential. Our defensive line is not a great line at pressure, but, again, it's been the least of our worries this year. If you don't know it, you should probably try harder.

[Dondrae474]

Thanks for the post. I enjoyed reading it.